Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21724617k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #246.17; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of resolved stars are the most powerful diagnostic tool to understand stellar evolution and star formation history of a galaxy in detail. By comparing stellar evolution models to observations in CMDs, we are able to determine approximate ages of individual stellar populations in galaxies. However, in some regions with recent star-forming activity, stellar populations are partially obscured by dust. Applying a single extinction correction value often results in either over- or under-estimate of the ages of individual stars.
We present a multi-wavelength photometric study of resolved stars in M83 from the HST WFC3/UVIS observations using four filters - F336W, F438W, F555W, and F814W - to measure colors and, given the known distance (4.5 Mpc) to M83, intrinsic luminosities of 10,000 stars. We selected 50 regions in a spiral arm and inter-arm areas of M83, and categorized them based on their Hα morphology. To determine ages of stellar populations, we combined the CMDs and the color-color diagrams with the Padova isochrones and also constrain the spatial variation of dust extinction in each region. We correct for Galactic foreground extinction and for the extinction towards each individual star internal to M83, resulting in improved stellar age estimates from isochrone fitting on CMDs. We find that age distributions of resolved stellar populations in 50 regions agree with blue-to-red star ratios, and with ages of clusters in their vicinity.
This work is based on Early Release Science observations made by the WFC3 Scientific Oversight Committee. We are grateful to the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute for awarding Director's Discretionary time for this program.
Chandar Rupali
Kaleida Catherine
Kim Hwihyun
Saha Avishek
SOC WFC3
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